Kirby Keeps His Tilt

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After a nail-biting delay, Kirby Tilt n' Tumble is back on Nintendo's release list.

By IGN Staff

Back in October, a source close to the conversion of Nintendo's Kirby game Tilt 'n Tumble (which features an innovative new tilt technology for game control) informed us that the game would be getting a major facelift over the Japanese version and would be changed from a Kirby game to a Pokémon Tilt 'n Tumble. Apparently, Nintendo felt stronger in feeding the rabid demand for more Pokémon games than offering another quirky (and possibly poor performing) title featuring the lesser-known pink puff-a-lump Kirby.

However, it looks like the Big N has had a change of heart -- the company today released shots of the game back in true form, with Kirby as the main character and not a peep or Pika about Pokémon to be seen. Kirby Tilt 'n Tumble (which easily scored a 9.0 in our review of the Japanese Kirby game) will be released in America on April 9, 2001.

Why was Kirby saved? It's possible that Nintendo re-evaluated its saturation of the Pokémon market, shoveling yet another title out featuring Pikachu and the gang just for the purposes of keeping Pokémon hot. Obviously, the company doesn't need to go to these measures, as sales for Pokemon Gold / Silver proved. The game's play mechanism was also decidedly difficult to get used to, and may have gone through further refinement for American audiences -- Nintendo likely came to the conclusion that, if extra time must be spent on a simple conversion, the game might as well go through a full restructuring for a broader audience. Now that the Game Boy Advance is near, Nintendo doesn't need that kind of high-profile name-dropping when a much bigger product is on the horizon. In any case, the game's delay from December now to April is a significant one for a game needing minimal English translation.

But possibly the greatest cause for Kirby Tilt 'n Tumble to stay as it is would be consumer outcry -- IGN's Community Boards went wild when word came that a Pokémon license might be tacked on to the game, and many of Kirby's biggest supporters petitioned Nintendo to keep the game as it is. It seems that this time, the people have been heard and counted.